Archive: egypt
12th May 2010
In a rare burst of public relations activity yesterday, the Egyptian embassy in London circulated emails to journalists about the latest extension of the country's emergency law which has been in place since 1967 (apart from a short break around 1980).
For several years the government has been… Read more
5th May 2010
Egypt's absurd ban on Sufi dhikr ceremonies continues. This is the most stupid government move since the great pig massacre of a year ago and a major infringement of religious freedom.
So far, the ban hasn't been getting much comment in the media or the blogs but it's good to see some resistance on… Read more
5th May 2010
More absurdity from Egypt. About 50 students at Cairo universityhave been banned from completing their end-of-year exams because of their unauthorised activities on campus. They broke the rules, apparently, by sticking up anti-smoking posters.
Perhaps the nastiest part of it is the way they were… Read more
2nd May 2010
The Egyptian musicians' union is seeking to prevent Elton Johnfrom performing at a private concert in Egypt on May 18, because of his sexuality and his views on religion.
Mounir al-Wasimi, head of the musicians' union, told the German news agency: "How do we allow a gay, who wants to ban religions… Read more
1st May 2010
Sufis are the latest religious group to fall foul of the Egyptian authorities' control freakery. Earlier this week, security forces in Cairo closed the Sayyeda Zainab and Sayyeda Nafisa mosques after night prayers and turned off their lights in order to prevent the holding of Sufi dhikr ceremonies… Read more
29th April 2010
A group called Lawyers Without Restrictions is trying to launch an obscenity case against cultural officials in Egypt for publishing the centuries-old collection of folk tales, A Thousand and One Nights.
Read my article about it at Comment is free.
Posted by Brian Whitaker, 29 April 2010.
28th April 2010
It's not just in Egypt that Mohamed ElBaradei's calls for constitutional reform are making the authorities twitchy.
Earlier this month, the Kuwaiti authorities arrested more than 30 of his supporters and summarily deported most of them.
A couple of weeks ago, the UAE was reported to be blocking… Read more
24th April 2010
Hany Nazeer, an Egyptian blogger, has been detained without charge since October 2008 under the country's emergency law. This week, the interior ministry renewed his detention order for the sixth time – allegedly for his own protection.
Human Rights Watch explains:
"A high school social worker… Read more
21st April 2010
Top-heavy: the ill-fated Salam Boccaccio ferry
Four years after the Red Sea ferry, Salam Boccaccio, sank with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, there are at last signs of a crackdown on unseaworthy vessels in the area.
Surprise inspections of 24 ships operating between Saudi Arabia, Egypt and… Read more
16th April 2010
Few countries are immune to the possibility of communal violence, but they differ in how they deal with it and what steps they take in the aftermath to prevent a recurrence.
A new report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights looks at the growing problem of sectarian violence in Egypt and… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
